The Sacramento Kings Can't Even Lose On Purpose | Defector

"Give the Sacramento Kings an incentive, and they will find a way to flee from it. The operators of basketball's least functional franchise spent the part of the season in which they were deluded enough to think they could win games instead getting humiliated, losing nightly by galling margins. Now that losing is exactly what they need to do, they have turned into an accidental juggernaut."

"Amid all the anxiety about tanking, the Kings stand as a potent counterexample to the notion that the practice is simple and thoughtless. It is, as they demonstrate, something you can be bad at. The essence of incompetence in the NBA is not losing so much as it is a lack of cohesive vision."

"Fans aren't stupid, and while the experience of paying American dollars to go watch Micah Potter hoist 11 threes doesn't carry the same thrill as getting to watch a good team, not only do ticket prices reflect the ugliness of the hoops on offer, I think fans of any team that's been rewarded for tanking would tell you that sacrificing a few months of faux-competitive basketball for an All-NBA talent is more than worth it."

The Sacramento Kings exemplify organizational dysfunction by simultaneously failing at both winning and tanking. Despite needing to lose for draft positioning, they unexpectedly won four of their last five games and six of their last eleven after trading away their best players. This contradicts the assumption that tanking is straightforward; the Kings prove incompetence manifests as lack of cohesive vision rather than mere losing. Fans of tanking teams rationally accept short-term losses for long-term gains through high draft picks, understanding the incentive structure works across the NBA except Miami. The Kings' accidental success while attempting to tank highlights how organizational dysfunction can undermine even deliberate strategic losing.

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